Appealing a transaction defect

[michael_cullis]

I have dropped from Top Seller to Below Standard and am now limited to 215 items (I currently have over 500 items listed). I would like to appeal two transaction defects going back to March. I didn't know I had these defects until long after the time limit for appeal had passed. There are two cases I would like to appeal:

I posted a 3 CD digipack which I had opened up so that I could post it as a letter. It was returned to me as having insufficient postage. The local post office agreed that it qualified as a large letter and re-posted it for me . A few days later it was returned for the same reason. The local post office advised me to give up the fight and post it as a parcel, which I did. Due to those delays eBay saw it as a late delivery (going by the tracking). This was not my fault.

In the second cas a buyer opened a dispute because his CD had not arrived. I asked him if he could give it another week and he agreed. I was expecting him to contact me if it hadn't arrived, in which case I would have refunded him, or to tell me it had arrived. I never heard from him again so I assumed he had received his purchase. Again, this was not my  fault. I would like to plead my case with eBay in the hope of lifting myself out of Below Standard. Can I do this?

[davewil1964]

Anecdotally, no.

Wait until March and your rating should be reestablished, given it is a rolling 12 months.

Unless you have very few transactions, 2 late deliveries shouldn't impact your standings.

And you have been around for decades, so should know by know how eBay works.

Edit: Or transfer your listings to your other selling account.

[gutterpunkz05]

Shipped without tracking, no proof items were shipped inside your handling time, the reason the item was late is then irrelevant.

[michael_cullis]

I have other defective transactions most of which relate to sales I had to cancel because I couldn't find them. Unfortunately I was not aware of the danger of cancelling items for this reason because I had never seen this rule, even after years of being a client of eBay.

I always ship CDs as large letters, which don't come with tracking. Paying for tracking would mean that I would have to double my shipping charge which would dramatically reduce my sales.  What gutterpunkz05 says means that I have to accept responsibility for delays for which I am not responsible. It may be irrelevant to eBay but it is obviously unjust.

I would consider transferring my listings to my other account if I could do it without having to manually relist 300+ items individually.

As I already have some 50 items scheduled for listing on 1st December I am considering ending all my current listings and relisting  about 150 of the ones I ended so that I have the allowable 215 listed. I should mention that I have about 500 items currently listed.

[gutterpunkz05]

Shipping without tracking is your choice, but you forgo  ebay seller protections.  From memory, as your account is now rated below standard, in addition to account restrictions you will also now pay a higher FVF rate, I think it is an extra 5.5%

It might pay to check the policy and find out how to reduce the risk of ebay taking further action, which is likely if your account remains below standard, and can result in all your accounts being terminated,  plus any accounts that ebay deem may be associated with you.

[springyzone]

It sort of is your fault, you know.

It is your responsibility to get things to buyers on time.

You are the one who made the decision to send the CD as a letter, which is a bit dicey and had you just reposted as a parcel after the first return, you probably would have been okay.

It is an economic decision you've made, but after that first return, you should have known there was a possibility the same thing could happen again once it reached another facility.

You took a big risk, it didn't work out. Your fault. You may be better off raising prices and sending as parcel with tracking in future.

And in the second case, did you actually ask the buyer to contact you if it had not arrived by the next week?

In your place, I would have ben following up with a message to the buyer a few days later to ask if it had arrived yet. The buyer had already contacted you once, he probably felt he had been fobbed off once and you hadn't shown any interest since then so why bother contacting you yet again.

In his place, I probably would have contacted you but not all buyers are going to be as patient. He actually gave you a chance instead of launching into a claim straight away so the least you should have done is to follow up.

Then you say you cancelled sales as you couldn't find the items. Not good enough, that annoys buyers no end, you wasted their time and tied up their money, you may even have left them in the lurch if they were counting on getting the item by a certain time. You need to get your act together and have the items you list all stored in some place you can readily access and find them.

You are marked below standard because you are in fact delivering below standard service.

Hopefully you can perform better over the next few months and raise the bar again.

[michael_cullis]

If you look at listings on eBay you will see that just about everybody ships CDs as large letters rather than parcels. Shipping a CD as a parcel costs three times as much as shipping it as a parcel and potential buyers might be reluctant to pay $11.50 shipping for a $16 CD.

In response to your comment about the returned CD, I don't believe I took a risk. The post office ruled that the CD was a letter, not a parcel, crossed out the Return to Sender stamp and posted it for me. It was not my fault, it was the fault of the postal officials.

As for the second case, the buyer agreed to wait a week in the hope that the CD would turn up. Whilst it might not be obvious to you, common sense would suggest that the buyer would contact me if the CD had not arrived. 

To suggest that I am delivering below standard service is patently absurd when you consider that the vast majority of my sales proceed smoothly. Cases where I have not been able to locate an item are extremely rare considering the volume of my sales. My feedback is overwhelmingly positive, with only one neutral rating.

[countessalmirena · Accepted solution]

@michael_cullis, if you post untracked, then you must have a swift remedy available to avoid the worst outcome (eBay sanctioning). That means that you keep an eagle eye on any INR claim. It’s like watching a toddler; you can’t take your eyes off the claim/toddler for a second.

Did you not notice that the first buyer in question opened an INR claim?

In the second case, where the buyer had to your knowledge already opened a dispute, it was on you to resolve the dispute. Asking the buyer to wait is not a resolution. Presumably the latest EDD had already passed as the buyer was able to open the dispute. Just REFUND; it takes just one second four days later for the buyer to escalate so this is not a risk worth taking.

You could always have messaged the buyer within the claim with a request for buyer to repay if/when CD turns up; that would at the very least have assured the buyer that you weren’t some scamming seller out to delay the buyer until the dispute timed out.

You probably need a self-insurance fund for situations like this. I suggest you increase your postage charge by 20 cents or so, and “reserve” the extra cents into your own self-insurance fund from which you can pay out any of the inevitable INR claims.

[michael_cullis]

The first buyer did not contact me or complain to eBay. I notified him as to what had happened

"Hi, I was surprised to find your CD returned to me for a second time. I once again complained at the local post office and they again agreed that the parcel was a large letter rather than a small parcel. Unfortunately they had no suggestions so tomorrow I will post it as a small parcel and live with the additional postage cost. Please accept my apologies once again. Hopefully you will get the CD by the end of the week. The tracking number is EBA02577777701000830908."

I never heard from him again, so the item obviously arrived. Unfortunately the transaction number was applied some time after I first posted the CD. I don't think I should be penalised for for mistakes within Australia Post. I assume eBay uses algorithms  which are too limited to make reasonable judgements.

[davewil1964]

However the dilemma is in the detail.

You have admitted to cancelling sales using 'out of stock' or similar. THAT is what has pinged you, not a couple of late deliveries.

Don't cancel using that reason or, better yet, keep tabs on your stock. Which is what professional (or even prudent) sellers do